The Council of Republic of the National Assembly of Belarus approved a draft Law on the Procedure of Departure from the Republic of Belarus and Entry into the Republic of Belarus of citizens of the Republic of Belarus, a BELTA reporter informed.

According to the draft, minor Belarusian citizens may leave for abroad accompanied by one of their legal representatives without the other representative’s consent. If one of the parents objects to sending a child abroad, he/she shall have the right to file an application to a court to determine a different procedure unless a minor goes abroad for medical treatment, health improvement, or medical consultation. Information on the procedure established by the court is entered into a databank on citizens whose right to leave for abroad is temporarily restricted.

On the whole, the draft law aims to secure the constitution right of citizens to leave Belarus freely and come back without hindrance. Authors of the document used experience of foreign countries such as Germany, Sweden, USA, France, and CIS countries. Provisions of the draft comply with universally recognized international standards.

The legal act also establishes single grounds for temporarily restriction of the Belarusian citizens’ right to leave the republic. Departure may be temporarily restricted, e.g. if a citizen possesses some data constituting state secret, is suspected or charged in a criminal case, or a civil action is brought against him/her in a court. The grounds also include failure to meet property, tax and alimony obligations with no good reasons. The right to leave may be restricted when a citizen is a debtor in a case on economic insolvency. The list also includes evasion of appearance to an event related to military service recruitment.

Aleksandr Makarevich, 1^st deputy director, National Center for Legislation and Legal Studies, explained that the draft also aims to simplify handling of the situations when there are conflict relations between parents. One of the parents still may prevent a child’s departure with the other parents but he/she will be able to do so upon his/her own initiative and judicially.